The Effect of Vibrotactile Feedback on Remote Manual Task Performance

Vibrotactile feedback offers a unique opportunity to augment or reconstruct impaired tactile sensations, whether that be in the form of enhancing prosthetics or specialized protective clothing. Important information about temperature and object slippage serve to endanger the human operator or equipment. This thesis presents three experiments which investigate amplitude modulated vibrotactile signals as a scalar dimension of roughness, the effect those signals and their locations (finger pad, forearm, bicep) have on the performance of two tasks: the sensing of temperatures simulated by vibrotactile signals and gripping an object of simulated surface texture. The results show task performance increase when the feedback and site of action are co-located for sensory tasks and decrease for manipulatory tasks

Lattice Kinetics of Diffusion-Limited Coalescence and Annihilation with Sources

We study the 1D kinetics of diffusion-limited coalescence and annihilation with back reactions and different kinds of particle input. By considering the changes in occupation and parity of a given interval, we derive sets of hierarchical equations from which exact expressions for the lattice coverage and the particle concentration can be obtained. We compare the mean-field approximation and the continuum approximation to the exact solutions and we discuss their regime of validity.Comment: 24 pages and 3 eps figures, Revtex, accepted for publication in J. Phys.

Invalid party wall awards and how to avoid them

Considers the reasons for the invalidity of party wall awards. Examines decided cases under earlier party wall legislation in the context of the Party Wall etc. Act 1996. Explains invalidity on the basis of an excess of the surveyors’ statutory authority. Defines this authority in terms of jurisdiction and power. Demonstrates the limits of the surveyors’ authority and emphasises the importance of strict compliance with statutory procedures. Concludes that surveyors should adopt an inquisitive and analytical approach to the scope of their authority to avoid the possibility of invalid awards. Echoes John Anstey’s earlier warning that surveyors should avoid a broad-brush approach to their duties which will only leave them “covered in soot”

Development of a non-dairy probiotic fermented product based on almond milk and inulin

A new fermented almond milk that combined the properties of both almonds and probiotics was considered to cover the current versatile health-promoting foods' demand. Almond milk fermentation with probiotic Lactobacillus reuteri and Streptococcus thermophilus was studied by using a Central Composite design with response surface methodology, and different factors (glucose, fructose, inulin and starters) were optimised to assure high probiotic survivals in the final product. The optimal formulation was physicochemically characterised throughout cold storage (28 days) and both probiotic survivals to invitro digestion and proteolysis were quantified. Results showed that a high probiotic population (>10(7) cfu/mL) was obtained in the previously optimised almond milk throughout storage time, which correspond to the addition of 0.75g of glucose/100mL, 0.75g of fructose/100mL, 2g/100mL inulin and 6mL/100mL inoculum. Glucose was used as the main nutrient and the production of mannitol by L. reuteri was detected. The fermentation process increased the viscosity values, forming a weak gel structure, whose physical properties hardly changed. Probiotic bacteria notably survived (51%) to the invitro digestion, surely related to the inulin presence, which would add value to the developed product by enhancing the potential health benefits of its consumption.This research has been carried out thanks to a funded project by the Universitat Politecnica de Valencia (PAID-05-11-2740). This work was also supported by the Conselleria de Educacion of Valencia government, which granted the author N. Bernat (ACIF/2011).Bernat Pérez, N.; Cháfer Nácher, MT.; Chiralt Boix, MA.; González Martínez, MC. (2015). Development of a non-dairy probiotic fermented product based on almond milk and inulin. 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Soymilk treated by ultra high-pressure homogenization: Acid coagulation properties and characteristics of a soy-yogurt product. Food Hydrocolloids, 23(2), 490-496. doi:10.1016/j.foodhyd.2008.03.010DE SOUZA OLIVEIRA, R. P., PEREGO, P., CONVERTI, A., & DE OLIVEIRA, M. N. (2009). The effect of inulin as a prebiotic on the production of probiotic fibre-enriched fermented milk. International Journal of Dairy Technology, 62(2), 195-203. doi:10.1111/j.1471-0307.2009.00471.xDonkor, O. N., Henriksson, A., Vasiljevic, T., & Shah, N. P. (2005). Probiotic Strains as Starter Cultures Improve Angiotensin-converting Enzyme Inhibitory Activity in Soy Yogurt. Journal of Food Science, 70(8), m375-m381. doi:10.1111/j.1365-2621.2005.tb11522.xFranck A.*. (2002). Technological functionality of inulin and oligofructose. British Journal of Nutrition, 87(6), 287-291. doi:10.1079/bjnbjn/2002550Glahn, R. P., Lee, O. A., Yeung, A., Goldman, M. I., & Miller, D. D. (1998). 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S., Najm, W., Calle, M. C., Kalynych, C., … Lerman, R. H. (2011). A Mediterranean-style low-glycemic-load diet improves variables of metabolic syndrome in women, and addition of a phytochemical-rich medical food enhances benefits on lipoprotein metabolism. Journal of Clinical Lipidology, 5(3), 188-196. doi:10.1016/j.jacl.2011.03.002Kamil, A., & Chen, C.-Y. O. (2012). Health Benefits of Almonds beyond Cholesterol Reduction. Journal of Agricultural and Food Chemistry, 60(27), 6694-6702. doi:10.1021/jf2044795Kolida, S., Tuohy, K., & Gibson, G. R. (2002). Prebiotic effects of inulin and oligofructose. British Journal of Nutrition, 87(S2), S193-S197. doi:10.1079/bjn/2002537Kopp-Hoolihan, L. (2001). Prophylactic and Therapeutic Uses of Probiotics. Journal of the American Dietetic Association, 101(2), 229-241. doi:10.1016/s0002-8223(01)00060-8Kroh, L. W. (1994). Caramelisation in food and beverages. Food Chemistry, 51(4), 373-379. doi:10.1016/0308-8146(94)90188-0Li, T. Y., Brennan, A. M., Wedick, N. M., Mantzoros, C., Rifai, N., & Hu, F. B. (2009). Regular Consumption of Nuts Is Associated with a Lower Risk of Cardiovascular Disease in Women with Type 2 Diabetes. The Journal of Nutrition, 139(7), 1333-1338. doi:10.3945/jn.108.103622Liu, R. H. (2012). Health Benefits of Phytochemicals in Whole Foods. Nutritional Health, 293-310. doi:10.1007/978-1-61779-894-8_13Julian McClements, D. (2004). Food Emulsions. Contemporary Food Science. doi:10.1201/9781420039436Matissek R, Schnepel FM, Steiner G (1998) Análisis de los Alimentos: Fundamentos, Métodos y Aplicaciones, Zaragoza: Acribia S.A. publishings, pp. 123–132.Ortiz, M. E., Fornaguera, M. J., Raya, R. R., & Mozzi, F. (2012). Lactobacillus reuteri CRL 1101 highly produces mannitol from sugarcane molasses as carbon source. Applied Microbiology and Biotechnology, 95(4), 991-999. doi:10.1007/s00253-012-3945-zPatrignani, F., Iucci, L., Lanciotti, R., Vallicelli, M., Maina Mathara, J., Holzapfel, W. H., & Guerzoni, M. E. (2007). Effect of High-Pressure Homogenization, Nonfat Milk Solids, and Milkfat on the Technological Performance of a Functional Strain for the Production of Probiotic Fermented Milks. Journal of Dairy Science, 90(10), 4513-4523. doi:10.3168/jds.2007-0373Pereda, J., Ferragut, V., Quevedo, J. M., Guamis, B., & Trujillo, A. J. (2007). Effects of Ultra-High Pressure Homogenization on Microbial and Physicochemical Shelf Life of Milk. Journal of Dairy Science, 90(3), 1081-1093. doi:10.3168/jds.s0022-0302(07)71595-3Rivera-Espinoza, Y., & Gallardo-Navarro, Y. (2010). Non-dairy probiotic products. Food Microbiology, 27(1), 1-11. doi:10.1016/j.fm.2008.06.008Roberfroid, M. B. (2005). Introducing inulin-type fructans. British Journal of Nutrition, 93(S1), S13-S25. doi:10.1079/bjn20041350Roland, I. (2003). Systematic characterization of oil-in-water emulsions for formulation design. 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Coupling between magnon and ligand-field excitations in magnetoelectric Tb3Fe5O12 garnet

The spectra of far-infrared transmission in Tb3Fe5O12 magnetoelectric single crystals have been studied in the range between 15 and 100 cm-1, in magnetic fields up to 10 T, and for temperatures between 5 and 150 K. We attribute some of the observed infrared-active excitations to electric-dipole transitions between ligand-field split states of Tb3+ ions. Anticrossing between the magnetic exchange excitation and the ligand-field transition occurs at the temperature between 60 and 80 K. The corresponding coupling energy for this interaction is 6 cm-1. Temperature-induced softening of the hybrid IR excitation correlates with the increase of the static dielectric constant. We discuss the possibility for hybrid excitations of magnons and ligand-field states and their possible connection to the magnetoelectric effect in Tb3Fe5O12.Comment: submitted to Phys. Rev. B on May 15th, 201

Fire analysis of steel frames with the use of artificial neural networks

The paper presents an alternative approach to the modelling of the mechanical behaviour of steel frame material when exposed to the high temperatures expected in fires. Based on a series of stress-strain curves obtained experimentally for various temperature levels, an artificial neural network (ANN) is employed in the material modelling of steel. Geometrically and materially, a non-linear analysis of plane frame structures subjected to fire is performed by FEM. The numerical results of a simply supported beam are compared with our measurements, and show a good agreement, although the temperature-displacement curves exhibit rather irregular shapes. It can be concluded that ANN is an efficient tool for modelling the material properties of steel frames in fire engineering design studies. (c) 2007 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved

Family Unification, Exotic States and Light Magnetic Monopoles

Models with fermions in bifundamental representations can lead naturally to family unification as opposed to family replication. Such models typically predict (exotic) color singlet states with fractional electric charge, and magnetic monopoles with multiple Dirac charge. The exotics may be at the TeV scale, and relatively light magnetic monopoles (greater than about 10^7 GeV) can be present in the galaxy with abundance near the Parker bound. We focus on three family SU(4)XSU(3)XSU(3) models.Comment: 37 page

Securing a Wireless Site Network to Create a BIM-allied Work-front

The Building Information Model (BIM) serves as a framework to align all the project-related data, providing interoperability to store and retrieve information interactively. Unfortunately, the construction site itself is excluded from this interaction as the large amount of data requires high data transfer rates and ruggedized hardware. However, advanced wireless communication technologies open radically new avenues to relay large amounts of data automatically and in near real-time. Construction could be a key beneficiary of these advancements. Wireless communication integrated with BIM, GPS and the Internet is able to provide the backbone necessary for creating intelligent systems, supporting the designer in his or her office as well as workers on the work-front. This paper presents a study that documents the development and testing of prototypes designed to facilitate information sharing at the field-level during construction. The main system constitutes an information hub, called the eCKiosk, connecting “senders and receivers” both on-site as well as off-site. The system design is discussed and some of the main modules are demonstrated. Since the electronic Kiosk depends on robust connections to the wireless devices distributed across the site, reliable connectivity is essential. For this reason, the discussion includes a study of the electronic signals behaviour in an ever-changing construction site. Measurements of the signal strengths during excavation and concrete work are presented and compared with theoretical calculations used to predict wave propagation. The results show how present models overestimate signal attenuation patterns on the construction site. This is important for designing a reliable and secure wireless site networks to link BIM to the work-front